American toddler pronounced dead after pool incident found alive hours later at morgue – National

A toddler who was pronounced dead at a hospital after a drowning incident in a backyard pool in Gilbert, Ariz., was later found alive by medical staff, police said in a statement to Global News.

First responders were called to a home in suburban Phoenix around 5:30 p.m. local time on Feb. 8, where they performed life-saving measures on the baby before taking him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later, investigators said.

Gilbert police officers and fire personnel who attended the scene saw possible signs of life, the Associated Press reported, but the child was still taken to the hospital’s “cold room” after being treated by its staff, police documents obtained by the media noted.

“Please do what you have and let me do what is mine,” said Dr. Arian Toosi an officer at one point, according to the report. “I went to medical school for a reason.”

About five hours after the boy was pronounced dead, police were informed that the child was found alive by a team of doctors, at which time he was transported from the “cold room” to another hospital, where he was treated and then released.

The boy’s parents have since been under surveillance by police, who claim in documents that there was a strong odor of marijuana coming from the home and open doors that left the pool easily accessible, the Associated Press said, adding that the documents cite 911 calls from relatives who said the child had been removed from the pool and was unconscious.

Police told Global News on Wednesday that based on the facts of the investigation, a charge of child or vulnerable adult abuse was recommended to the Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office for the victim’s mother and father.

The Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office will review the case and make a final decision on charges, the statement said.

Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where the 18-month-old was taken, in a statement to The Associated Press, called what happened to the child “a heartbreaking situation” and said the hospital conducted “a thorough review of all aspects of the care provided to learn what happened and make meaningful changes to strengthen our care.”

A lawyer for Toosi told The Associated Press that he would not comment on behalf of his client, but said there was much more to the story, both “factually and medically,” than had been reported.

or GoFundMewhich was set up in February to help the family cover the cost of the boy’s medical bills, says the boy’s organs began shutting down soon after he was found alive and that early medical scans showed signs of brain damage.

“Thank you for your prayers, your kindness and your support for our miracle warrior baby Vincent,” the fundraising page also said.

There have been other cases of people being found alive after being declared dead.

In Southfield, Mich., Timesha Beauchamp, a 20-year-old with cerebral palsy, was pronounced dead by a doctor over the phone in 2020. City paramedics had responded to a 911 call at her family’s home.

Later that day, a funeral home opened the body bag and found Beauchamp gasping for air. She was rushed to hospital but never recovered and died two months later. Southfield settled a malpractice lawsuit filed by the family for $3.25 million.

It’s rare for a person to be mistakenly pronounced dead, although when it does, it may be due to inexperience or shallow, interrupted breathing that is difficult to detect, Dr.

—With files from The Associated Press

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